Take-Home Test

Conclusions:
Each question in Step 2 corresponds to one of six "sectors" identified by Potentia. "Each sector represents a different kind of thinking, not a better or worse kind of thinking," Savage says. "Ultimately, the 'best' type of thinking is the one that is best suited to the purpose and circumstances you're working with at a particular time."

Sector Descriptions:
According to Savage, the kind of thinking characterized by Sectors 1, 2, and 3 is normally taught in schools and universities. It is the essential thinking of scientific discovery. Sectors 4, 5, and 6 cover a different kind of thinking: one that is intuitive, nonlinear, and holistic, rather than logical or imaginative. This kind of thinking does not rely on facts and, therefore, often seems illogical to those who try to judge it from a distance.

Sector 1: Works best when details are needed, and lots of facts and information are readily available. People who are happiest in this sector like to amass facts and focus very clearly on one thing at a time. Imagine a narrow flashlight beam, illuminating a small area very brightly.

Sector 2: Works best when dealing with short-term, practical problems that require a fair amount of information and build on some precedents. People who think most comfortably like this are often seen as practical and problem-centered. Imagine a powerful spotlight that is focused on what matters most: Things close to it get some illumination; things farther away stay dark.

Sector 3: Works best in situations where cause-and-effect links are important, such as building systems or procedures. Useful for drawing logical conclusions from available facts. People who think most comfortably in these ways are often drawn to work that hinges on linear logic. Imagine a strong headlight on a vehicle that illuminates the road ahead clearly, but doesn't reach things along the roadside.

Sector 4: Works best when scant data prevents seeing clearly ahead to a solution; suggests patterns or trends in thinking. People who think in this way often synthesize material from different sources to make patterns and then reason with the connections that they have made. They skillfully link items that other people often overlook. This kind of thinking is very useful for planning in uncertain situations where you are faced with various contingencies and unknowns. Imagine a mobile searchlight tracing an area, trying to pick up hidden signals.

Sector 5: Often uses examples and analogies to guide reasoning. People who think in this way make links between vastly different topics or areas, using them as sources of ideas. They try to extract general concepts from many situations and apply them to the topic at hand, often jumping to seemingly unrelated topics. They also recognize far more in a situation than others do, mostly because they make these links and start generalizing from whatever is in front of them. Their thinking progressively illuminates wider and wider areas, like a series of lights being switched on as a person moves from room to room in a house.

Sector 6: Begins with the answer and then moves backward to demonstrate how the solution came about. This kind of thinking runs counter to the status quo. In school, we are taught to begin with information and extrapolate reasons from facts. Even thinking in Sectors 4 and 5 begins with the tangible and then moves out into a whole realm of possibilities. People who habitually think in this Sector 6 are often characterized as visionaries (or madmen!) because they envision an outcome that does not exist. They do not work up to a solution; they conjure it intuitively and fully in their own minds. Then they work backward, exploring factors leading up to the outcome and tracing all the links and patterns. This way of thinking is useful for handling problems that arrive with no proper information or with massive disagreement about the information that was provided, or problems for which all possible solutions seem to have been tried and failed.

"Education tends to value some of these sectors more than others, so we learn to comply to score good grades," Savage says. "In time, like any muscles we don't use, certain kinds of thinking get weaker and weaker. If we try to use them then, it feels tough and uncomfortable -- our brains hurt! So we drop that kind of thinking and go back to where we feel most comfortable: the comfort zone."

Exercise 2: Values